Seton Hall University
Wagner
Women's Hoops Handles Wagner, 86-61
11/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2013
Box Score | Box Score
| Highlights
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Senior center Brittany Webb (New York, N.Y.) scored a career-high 18 points to lead four players in double figures as the Seton Hall University women's basketball team handled Wagner College, 86-61, on Saturday afternoon in Walsh Gymnasium.
The Pirates (4-1) used a 21-1 run over 7:34 in the first half to take a 25-6 lead and the advantage never dipped below 10 points the rest of the way. Seton Hall held Wagner without a field goal for 8:34 as the Seahawks missed nine-straight shot attempts and turned the ball over nine times during that stretch.
Wagner (1-3) turned the ball over 11 times in the first half leading to 15 points for Seton Hall and fittingly it was a Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) takeaway and layup on the break to give the Pirates an early 6-5 lead and spark the early run. On the next possession redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) knocked down a 3-pointer and hit a layup three possessions later to complete a stretch of nine unanswered points resulting in a 13-5 lead.
Sophomore Jasmine McCall (Manalapan, N.J.) scored on back-to-back possessions to stretch the Pirates' lead to double figures, 17-6, for the first time, and freshman Sidney Cook (Parkton, N.C.), who was seeing her first action since suffering an injury in the season opener, buried a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the opening half to make it 25-6.
Cook finished with a career-high 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting with her shooting range on full display as none of her field goals were inside 15 feet. Junior Chizoba Ekedigwe (Laurel, Md.) scored in double figures for the first time in her career, also shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to finish with 11 points in 17 minutes. Richardson-Smith rounded out Pirate offensive leaders by netting 15 points, reaching double figures for a fourth-straight game.
Behind four first-half 3-pointers from Laura Amorosa Wagner managed to climb back into the game and pull within 11 points, 35-24, with 2:24 left in the first half but was never able to get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way and Seton Hall led by 12 at the half.
Four different players scored for Seton Hall during a 10-0 run over 2:25 early in the second half that broke the game open for good. Freshman Tara Inman (Holmdel, N.J.), making her first-career start, hit a three to start the run and Richardson-Smith connected on a triple just 34 seconds later to push the SHU lead to 52-25.
Simmons found Richardson-Smith in transition for an easy two on the next possession and Cook capped off the run with a 15-foot jumper from the right wing.
Simmons saw her double-figure scoring streak of eight games dating back to last season come to an end as she finished with eight points, but she also tied her season high with seven assists and pulled down seven boards. She moved past Kris Durham to assume the 19th-place spot in school history with 218 assists, needing just three more to move up to 18th all-time.
Webb led the Pirates in scoring for the first time in her career and was 5-for-10 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. Richardson-Smith nearly recorded a double-double with nine rebounds to go along with her 15 points, and she also dished out a career-high five assists.
Seton Hall continued its dominance in the paint, outscoring Wagner 42-20; the Pirates have outscored four of their five opponents on the interior by combined margin of 196-118.
Seton Hall returns to action next Friday, Nov. 29, when it hosts the Seton Hall Classic Thanksgiving Tournament. The Pirates face Savannah State in the first round at 4:30 p.m., which will be preceded by Fresno State versus Liberty at 2 p.m.
